Sports stats



AFL I Arena Football League (1987-2008)

AFL Announces Players of the Week

May 21, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release


New Jersey Gladiators' SEDRICK ROBINSON, Indiana Firebirds' OL/DL CHRIS SNYDER, and New York Dragons' WR/DB MIKE FURREY have been named the Arena Football League's Offensive Player, "ADT" Defensive Player, and Ironman of the Week, respectively, for their performances during Week Five of the 2002 season.

Robinson (5-10, 185, Kentucky Wesleyan), last season's Rookie of the Year runner-up, hauled in 10 receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns, while adding six kick returns for 208 yards and three touchdowns in the Gladiators 76-69 overtime victory over the New York Dragons. In addition to his 328 all-purpose yards, Robinson added a rushing touchdown to bring his scoring total to six touchdowns for the Eastern Division contest. This marks the third time that Robinson has earned a league weekly honor. He won Ironman of the Week during Weeks 10 and 13 of the 2001 season.

Snyder (6-3, 270, Penn St.), a three-year AFL veteran, recorded two sacks, forced and recovered a fumble in helping the Firebirds (3-2) to a 55-34 Central Division victory over Detroit. The former Nittany Lion also had three tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. This award marks the first time that Snyder has garnered league-wide weekly recognition in his career.

Furrey (6-0, 185, Northern Iowa), who is in his rookie season, starred on both sides of the ball in Saturday's 76-69 overtime loss to the New Jersey Gladiators. Furrey had nine receptions for 138 yards and three touchdowns on offense, while adding 3.0 tackles, three interceptions and five passes defended. The former Panther leads the Dragons (1-4) in receiving yards (365), touchdowns (10), and interceptions (4). This marks the second time that Furrey has earned Ironman of the Week honors in his brief five-game AFL career.

Other candidates for Offensive Player of the Week included: Arizona's Sherdrick Bonner, Buffalo's Lamont Cooper, Chicago's Billy Dicken, Georgia's Donnie Davis, Grand Rapids' Steve Smith, Indiana's Eddie Brown, Los Angeles' Greg Hopkins, and San Jose's Mark Grieb.

Other candidates for "ADT" Defensive Player of the Week included: Detroit's Carl Greenwood, Los Angeles' Tony Plantin, New York's Mike Furrey, and San Jose's Omar Smith.

Other candidates for Ironman of the Week included: Arizona's Randy Gatewood, Buffalo's Carlos James, Carolina's Andre Bowden, Chicago's Cornelius Bonner, Detroit's Chuck Winters, Georgia's Jarrick Hillery, Grand Rapids' Travis McDonald, New Jersey's Dennison Robinson and Sedrick Robinson, San Jose's Barry Wagner.

PREVIOUS WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
Week, Offensive, "ADT" Defensive, Ironman
Week 1, Chris Jackson (Los Angeles), Ron Carpenter (Georgia), Gary Compton (Indiana)
Week 2, Sherdrick Bonner (Arizona), Bob McMillen (San Jose), Mike Furrey (New York)
Week 3, Lamont Cooper (Buffalo), Andre Bowden (Carolina), Greg Hopkins (Los Angeles)
Week 4, Chris Horn (Arizona), Sam Hernandez (San Jose), Lawrence Samuels (Tampa Bay)

*********************************

"BUILT FORD TOUGH" WINNERS

*********************************

San Jose coaches selected WR/DB BARRY WAGNER as one of last week's "Built Ford Tough" Players of the Game. The "Built Ford Tough" Award is a national recognition award given after every game to the player or players on each team best demonstrating determination and toughness in that game. The award honors the players who made a game-saving tackle or score-saving tackle, threw a key block on the big play or exhibited physical sacrifice or consistent tough blocking and tackling on either side of the ball. A six-time AFL Ironman of the Year, BARRY WAGNER led the SaberCats to a 77-45 victory last week in Orlando. His spectacular receiving (3-31 / 1 TD) and rushing (5-22 / 2 TD) performances encouraged San Jose to reach the 70-point plateau for the second week in a row and win their team-best fifth straight game. Up to five players who display the "get-it-done" kind of attitude are honored by each team every week. A point system is maintained on the league' s official site, www.arenafootball.com, throughout the season that will culminate in the "Built Ford Tough" Man of the Year, a player who will win a Ford Truck at the end of the season. Here is a list of this week's winners.

WEEK FIVE TEAM-BY-TEAM WINNERS
Arizona: Stacy Evans, Sherdrick Bonner, Chris Horn, Joe Burch, Randy Gatewood
Buffalo: Bret Cooper, Corey Johnson, Carlos James
Carolina: Andre Bowden, Aaron Bailey, Clarence Lawson
Chicago: John Moyer, Jamie McGourty
Dallas: Adrian Lunsford
Detroit: Chuck Winters, Bernard Williams, Toran James, Kelvin Kinney, Harry Deligianis
Georgia: Donnie Davis, Tyronne Jones, Oscar Sturgis
Grand Rapids: Travis McDonald, Isreal Raybon, Chris Ryan, Jason Waters, Curtis Ceaser
Indiana: Van Johnson, Chris Snyder, Evan Hlavacek, Leroy Thompson
Los Angeles: Chris Butterfield, Carlos Fowler, Greg Hopkins, Terrance Joseph, Tony Plantin
New Jersey: Sedrick Robinson, Dennison Robinson, Jeriod Johnson
New York: Donvetis Franklin, Mike Furrey, Steve Papin, Shea Showers, Rodney Filer
Orlando: Rashad Floyd, Antonio Stanley, Jay Gruden
San Jose: Omarr Smith, Barry Wagner, Albrey Battle, Clevan Thomas, Frank Beede
Tampa Bay: Rod Williams
Toronto: Damian Harrell, Del Lee, Anthony Derricks, Kerry Brown, Anthony Hicks

*********************************

ARENA HEROES: IN THE COMMUNITY

*********************************

CHICAGO

May 23 - Two-time AFL Lineman of the Year JAMES BARON will be speaking to 140 students at Cumberland Elementary who recently completed Chicago's inaugural "Rush to Read" initiative.

May 28 - Rush lineman TONY BOWICK will be speaking to fifth grade graduates of the D.A.R.E. program in Summit, Ill.

May 28 - Chicago's A. J. BLAZEK, CORNELIUS BONNER, RICK BOYER and JAIME MCGOURTY plan to play "Bingo" with several children at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. "Bingo with the Chicago Rush" will be broadcast over a closed circuit television system throughout the rooms of the hospital in order to share with children who are unable to attend in person.

*************

GRAND RAPIDS

May 20 - Rampage QB CLINT DOLEZEL, lineman LUCAS YARNELL and DS JOJO POLK paid a visit to children at Mary Free Bed Hospital.

May 23 - Rampage WR/LB MICHAEL BAKER plans to speak to kids about the importance of nutrition at a pair of Kent Regional Community Coordinated Child Care facilities.

********

INDIANA

May 22 -- The Firebirds dance team - the Flames -- and team mascot "Spike" will be on hand to help X103 and Coors to give away Firebird tickets and Indianapolis 500 Tickets as well as other great prizes.

************

NEW JERSEY

May 20 - Gladiators' WILKY BAZILE spoke with the 3rd and 4th grade classes at Harrison School in Roselle, N.J. about topics facing school children today as part of the team's Adopt-a-Gladiator is part of the Go To School with a Gladiator program.

**********

NEW YORK

May 21 -- Children at the Grenville Boys and Girls' Club participated in punt, pass and kick drills with members of the New York Dragons including MATT NAGY, MIKE FURREY, GEOFF TURNER, JASON MAXWELL, SEAN TREMBLAY and CARL SACCO.

*********

ORLANDO

"Fitness is Fun," the Orlando Predators grassroots initiative to teach the importance of physical fitness to students (grades 1-12), will make four stops this week. The program is headed by AFL Hall of Famer and former Orlando Predators great HERKIE WALLS. An estimated 3,000 children and young adults will experience "Fitness is Fun" this week at the following locations (dates):
May 21 -- Metro West Elementary
May 22 -- Pershing Elementary
May 24 -- St. Cloud Civic Center-Senior Day
May 25 -- Orange Grove Elementary

Preds Tix -- Tampa Bay Children's Home, Orange County Division of Families and Human Services, and Dream Ticket Clearinghouse helped distribute more than 200 Orlando Predators tickets to disadvantaged youth in the Central Florida area last week. The tickets were donated by the Predators and the team's sponsors.

**********

SAN JOSE

May 24 -- The SaberCats will host a booth at the Downtown San Jose Farmers Market. The SaberKittens will be at the event signing autographs and distributing team ticket information.

May 26 - Members of the SaberCats team -- including SHALON BAKER, JERRY REESE, BARRY WAGNER, CLEVAN THOMAS, OMARR SMITH, JAMES HUNDON, DARRIN KENNEY, MATT KENELEY, BOB MCMILLEN, MIKE ULUFALE -- and the SaberKittens will be at the opening weekend for Raging Waters Theme Park in downtown San Jose. The team will be signing photos and enjoying a team barbeque in the park's picnic area.

May 27 -- The SaberKittens will be featured in the Gilroy Memorial Day Parade on the city council float. The dance team will be at the SaberCats booth during the post-parade festival at Christmas Tree Park in downtown Gilroy.

*********************************

ARENAFOOTBALL.COM POLL RESULTS

*********************************

Q: WILL ORLANDO AND TAMPA BAY -- A COMBINED 2-8 HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES, BUT WITH SIX AFL TITLES BETWEEN THEM -- MAKE THE POSTSEASON?
* Only Orlando - 52%
* No - 32%
* Only Tampa Bay - 9%
* Yes - 7%

• Discuss this story on the Arena Football League (1987-2008) message board...

Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 21, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central